twitching and sighing {bowling}

Today we went bowling.

The end.

Just kidding.

I haven't decided yet whether it was fun or not.
There is something about teaching four Chinese people how to bowl
that leaves one twitching...and sighing.
And questioning life in general.

But they seemed to enjoy it.

I think.

Actually, I'm not sure.

I need to tell you that none of these pictures were posed
for...nor was Eli's form meant for our entertainment.
Though it did entertain.

My littlest little was an eager learner...

I've never seen a bowling ball travel more slowly down
a lane before today.
I think it even started to roll back at us at one point.

We did what we could to speed things up.

It didn't help much.

And in turn, Lucy helped Isaiah.
Of course she did.

But little Mister Adventure declared,
"Dong Ji do it!"

*Sometimes he calls himself Isaiah, but usually Dong Ji...
and it's always in the third person.
Which is hilarious.
But I am trying to break him of it.
Because it bugs me.

I told you I could do it.



Not sure if/when we will return to this
activity.

Recovery is still in progress.

don ho

Things are drumming along here at the ranch.
We go from being bored-out-of-our-gourds
to rediscovering the joys of
sidewalk chalk.

Oh, the simple things.

Yet the simple things seem to suddenly turn boring too.

Drats.

In more exciting news...

We found out that Nick qualified for the Optimist Junior Golf Championship
in Palm Beach, Florida.

The kid is seriously stoked.

It will be held at the PGA National Resort and Spa.

Did you catch that last part?

Resort.

And

spa.

And guess who is taking him?

Hahahaha,
it's so cute how you think it's me.

**Insert bitter feelings being set aside**

Probably K-man and Nick will go alone.
Sigh.

After all, why would I need a break from reality
at a tropical location?

What with my sidewalk chalk and all.

**Insert repentance of my bitter feelings**

But I'm hoping that I can *perhaps maybe possibly* hop on
a flight and be there for at least a couple nights.

Anyway,
it's all good because I've got my own personal Don Ho
right here at home....

Notice the drooping daisy behind his ear?
Lucy's doing, of course.


Taking care of his cabana boy chores...

And here is Don modeling K's disgusting
run-outside-to-do-few-chores shoes.

So that's about it for now.

I hope you all have a glorious weekend.

And don't forget to enjoy your sidewalk chalk.

how was your day, dear?

**Thank you to my high school BFF, Lori Anne for sending me this.

winning the battle through prayer

I'm really not one for praying prayers that were written
by someone else.

I like to speak to Jesus in my own words...and I'm
pretty sure He likes it that way too.

:)

We are friends, you know.

But when I heard the prayer below while listening to
David Jeremiah about two weeks ago,
I just had to have it written down for myself.
And I've prayed it often since then.

It's just really good.

Read it.
Pray it.
Make it your own.




Warrior's Prayer

Heavenly Father,
Your warrior prepares for battle.
Today I claim victory over Satan by putting on
the whole armor of God!

I put on the Girdle of Truth!
May I stand firm in the truth of Your Word
so I will not be a victim of Satan's lies.

I put on the Breastplate of Righteousness!
May it guard my heart from evil
so I will remain pure and holy,
protected under the blood of Jesus Christ.

I put on the Shoes of Peace!
May I stand firm on the Good News of the Gospel
so Your peace will shine through me
and be a light to all I encounter.

I take the Shield of Faith!
May I be ready for Satan's fiery darts of
doubt, denial and deceit
so I will not be vulnerable to spiritual defeat.

I put on the Helmet of Salvation!
May I keep my mind focused on You
so Satan will not have a stronghold on my thoughts.

I take the Sword of the Spirit!
May the two-edged sword of Your Word
be ready in my hands
so I can expose the tempting words of Satan.

By faith your warrior has put on the
whole armor of God!

I am prepared to live this day
in spiritual victory!

Amen.

lucy + dentist {bad, bad mix}

First of all,
to all of you nay-sayers regarding my reference
to us being DONE adopting
in my last post,
I have made note of each of you and you will be blocked
from my blog.

Just kiddin'.

But you are on probation.

And we ARE done adopting.
Mark my words.
You can vow to say, "I told you so" in the future if you want.

But you won't be saying it.

Because we are so done.

Now, let's move on.

I feel the need to tell you about my night on Saturday night.
Not sure if I will or not right at this moment.
I need to figure out whether it's really all that blog-worthy.

Do you see?
Do you see why I can't handle any more children?
My brain no longer functions well.

While I'm figuring that out,
I will tell you about Lucy's dentist appointment this morning.

Or lack thereof.

Ahem.

Bless my lil' dumplin's heart...she's had bad teeth from the get-go.
She had a lot of dental work done
IN the hospital under complete sedation when she was
about 3 years old.
It was awful.

There's nothing worse than seeing your child
in a hospital bed.
Even for minor procedures.

So anyway,
she had her first cleaning at a real dentist a while back.
By real dentist,
I mean...not a pediatric dentist.
Those people are whacky.
And by whacky I mean...only people who are completely nuts
could work with little children and their teeth all day long.
And act joyful about it.

Something ain't right with people like that.

Oh yes, but there's all that money.

Ok, back to my story.

At Lucy's latest cleaning the dentist
(who is joyful but not in a fairy-princess-crazy-person kind of way)
said that Lucy most definitely had two cavities
right smack on her front two teeth.

And probably elsewhere but since she wouldn't let them do
x-rays...well, one could only guess.

So I debated back and forth as to whether to get them filled
or not since she will be losing those teeth...but when?

I finally caved (insert crazy-person decision) and made the appointment.
She was oh-so-brave until the dentist started talking to her.
How dare he.

Things spiraled completely out of control right then and there.

Crying.

Thrashing.

Panic.

The dentist said,

"Wow."

Actually, it was more like,

"Wwwwooow."

Yes he did.
He said that.

But thankfully he made the decision that it just wasn't going to happen.
And told us it was ok to put it off a little bit longer in hopes
of the darn things loosening up,
falling out, and us living happily ever after.




And this, my friends, is reason #5,986 that we won't be adopting again.



Tell ya about Saturday night later.

eat 'em up

This little boy, our youngest and LAST of six,
can never ever accuse me of not
taking pics of him

because he is the youngest and LAST of our bunch.

He definitely gets the most attention around here, camera-wise.


He loves his little broom.
And when we had leaves and branches blown about
by a storm the night before,
he wasted no time getting busy cleaning it up.

Backpack and all.

And he is our one child (and LAST) who loves, loves, loves
to go visit the chickens and gather eggs.

Couldn't you just eat 'em up?

And the eggs are pretty good too.

muffin makin'

The other morning I was making muffins.

Someone was observing closely, obviously.


Because here is what I found just a little bit later...

Though he seemed to almost exactly copy my muffin makin'...
He was not, however, mimicking me wearing my chef's hat.
I've yet to earn that badge of honor.
And am not holding my breath.

Apparently, he's ranked higher than I am.
Fine by me.
Just as soon as all danger of a hot stove is outgrown,
this kiddo will have full-rights to
the kitchen.

Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.

Not holding my breath for that either.

coconuts

The other day I received a package in the mail.
When I opened the mailbox and saw something more than
bills and junk mail,
well, my heart jumped.
As did the kids'.

A big mail day around here is almost as cool as... a helicopter
landing in our back yard.
So sad, I know.

But when I saw who the package was from (my friend Patty),
a sudden nervousness came over me...
because I was quickly reminded of the ear-wax pickers I had
just sent to her (a lovely gift from China to her son).

She owed me one.

In a bad way.

So of course the kids wanted me to open it.
I did.
Sweat dripping, practically.



And here's what I got...

With a lovely note that said this was to officially kick off my packing
for our cruise in 2018.

Thankfully I didn't have to explain the coconuts to anyone but Macy.
She laughed.



But the next morning as I was trying to become coherent with
my jumbo mug of coffee...
I look over and my little man had adorned himself
(I swear to ya, I had nothing to do with this)
and was delightfully playing with Easter eggs.
Thank goodness the coconuts were out of reach.

In Batman pajamas.



Patty, we're even.
For now.

happy haircuts

Yesterday was haircut day.

These pics are a little out of order...
but that's my life right now.

Eli totally freaked out when I broke out the clippers to buzz the sides
of his hair...but honest-to-goodness, his hair grows
in all crazy directions and needs to be short.
If you have much experience with teen Chinese boys,
you know that they love that longer, funky look.
But, that ain't happening here.
And I think he's pretty happy with the end results after all.

Notice Lucy sitting in the "waiting room"...still in her PJs,
looking very annoyed that it is taking so
long for it to be her turn.

Yes indeed.
He likes his new look, I do believe.

And Little Mr. Tootie-Fruitie...

Well...there are no words, except....delicious.
Is he not?
Gasp.

Note to self: Buy some bronzer...or something, for goodness sakes.

And finally it was Lucy's turn.
And her mood remained the same.
She's precious.

Have a lovely Wednesday!!

a big fun day

What a day we had today.

And I'm pooped.

These kids wear me ragged.
In a good way.

Our day started with the big boys heading off to a
big golf tournament for Nick, several hours away.
They are spending the night in a hotel and everything.
All by themselves.
Gasp.

But first Nick and Isaiah had some kitchen counter time.
Just hangin' out before breakfast.
Nick looks mad, but he really wasn't.
He loves this little fella!

Then we headed to a great park close to our house.
We started out with a picnic...

Then the fun began.

*Pretending* we were at a tropical beach.
I had an umbrella drink and everything.
Not really.
I wish.

These two conquered this big climby thingy in no time.

The Littles...not so much.

But they sure did try.

Laughing. So. Hard.

Wheeeeeee!

I never could figure out why Isaiah was holding his ears.
Silly boy.

Fearless lil' fella.

Sweetie girl.
Sweaty girl.

Eli loves, loves, loves to get his picture taken.
He will pose, even when you haven't requested it.
Thank goodness for digital cams.

My baby was SO tired at this point.These two had an absolute blast at the park.
It was nearly impossible to keep up with them!

Then after all this, we went back home and hopped in the pool.

Today was a NOT boring day.

Everyone should sleep a good 10-12 hours tonight.
Yes, they should.